Guardian of the Moon
by Blue Talon 1337
Summary: The Straw Hat Pirates encountered a mysterious object in the middle of a meteor rain during their journey in the New World and finds something shocking within. Continuity of Enel's mini-story manga only . I do not own One Piece.
1. Mysterious Dropping Object

**This is my first fanfiction and I intend to make a full story. Hope it works out!**

**Story takes place in the New World right after Fishman Island; the Straw Hat Pirates are in the middle of dangerous meteor rain. Enel's mini story on space (manga only) is a part of this.**

**CHAPTER 1**

"Woah, we just entered the New World and we're already in a tough situation.", said Sanji.

"Don't worry, the Sunny can handle multiple direct hits from these rocks, but try to keep it minimal!" Franky warned while steering the ship.

"Hmm… getting hit from these blazing rocks can result in a slow painful death…" Robin remarked casually.

"Why do you have to say such grimy things now, Robin!" Usopp complained. "Ahhh a meteor's coming at me!"

Zoro jumps towards the meteor and takes out his sword, "One Sword Style: 360 Pound Cannon!"

The pieces of the meteor did not hit the Sunny, but there was a huge meteor coming down directly above Zoro. It was too fast, he had to dodge it. The Sunny did not take significant damage from the meteor, but it had a significant color and glow. The meteor rain stopped somehow. All of the Straw Hats gathered around the crashed rock.

"Everyone! The meteor rain has stopped!" Brook said with joy.

"A blue meteor?" asked Nami with confusion.

"Wow, awesome! Let me keep this. Shishishi." said Luffy happily.

Franky knocked on the crashed object, "This is definitely not a rock, but it is harder than steel."

"Zoro, try to cut the thing. There might be valuable treasures there!" said Nami with her eyes turned into Beli signs.

"Huh? No way, it could explode!"

"I don't care! Just do it!"

"Ah! You Devil's bitch!"

"Watch your tone around the lady, shitty marimo!" remarked Sanji.

"Shut up, love-cook!"

Zoro proceeded and about to take his sword out, but he sees a fissure on the meteor.

* * *

><p><strong>Please review if you like it or have any constructive criticisms to say! Thanks for reading!<strong>


	2. An Alien Emerged

**CHAPTER 2**

The cracking meteor suddenly dispersed, and all Straw Hats were stunned a bit by the brightness. There's a living being and it wakes up. The mysterious thing coughed and stood up, looking confused. The Straw Hats are surprised at what's going on. The figure looks like a white tiger with a pair of high-tech gauntlets and armored pants.

"What? Where am I? Who are you?" said the mysterious living being.

"Oi" said Luffy with intensity. "Join my crew!" with starry eyes.

"Huh! Get away from me!" Strange energy came out from his gauntlets and pushed Luffy without having to touch him.

Everyone's in their fighting stances, but Robin intercepted, "Wait! He is confused. Don't confront him with force."

Chopper rushed to Luffy "Are you OK, Luffy?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Luffy gets up, but still had the impressed face on him.

The tiger looks around and notice a Jolly Roger.

"I can see that I'm on a pirate ship."

"You don't seem scared at all." Zoro added.

"Well, I'm used to pirates, but you humans are strange."

Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp grouped" YOU'RE THE STRANGE ONE, STUPID!"

Luffy , Brook and Chopper blanked and started to think deeply. "EH! YOU CAN TALK!

"HOW CAN YOU GUYS BE SO SLOW!" yelled Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp.

"The gauntlets you have, it looks really high-tech and I think they're more advanced than Franky's new upgrades." Robin added.

"Oi, Robin, don't make me feel bad." said Franky while he crouch and looks at the ground looking depressed.

"The only place I know so far about having that kind of technology is the moon. I've read some books about it. Are you from the moon?" Robin asked with confidence.

"You are correct, I am from the moon."

All of the Straw Hats were shocked and yelled "EHHHH!"

"Then what are you doing here?" asked Sanji.

"I wanted to get away and end it all." The tiger answered with regret on his face.

"End it all? You mean take your own life away? Don't do such rash things without thinking your problems over!" Usopp tried to convince him to not kill himself.

"You don't know me. How dare you suggest that I have not thought about it over! The moon is in danger right now and I failed to protect it. I've suffered pain in 2 years."

"Bu- I'm sorry…"

"I do not need pity from some humans I just met, but it seems that I probably should try to go back."

"How are you getting back?" asked Sanji.

"If I can go down, I can go back up."

"That's too absurd… I bet you can't even go to Sky Island."

The tiger's eye widened and had an expression of shock. Then, he turned to Sanji "What do you know about Sky Island?"

"A lot of things… we went there except for the robot and the skeleton over there."

"Skeleton? I've already seen many strange things on planet Earth. The robot seems to be a less efficient model than me."

"Why you!" Franky expressed his frustration, but then he comes up with a question. "Model? Are you saying you're a robot too?"

"Yes… and I have beam that can shoot out of my eyes."

Out of nowhere, Luffy started yelling and got everyone's eyes on him, including the tiger. "Oi! JOIN MY CREW NOW!" said Luffy with starry eyes and tears of awe.

"No." said the tiger without a second thought. "This conversation has been amusing, but I have to go back and I couldn't delay for any longer."

The tiger tries to fly with his jet attached on his foot. Luffy was caught by the awesomeness, but reacts quickly when he takes off by grabbing both of his foot with his rubber hands.

"Wait!" said Luffy while struggling.

"Let go! Ugh, damn Devil Fruit user." Said the tiger while he is losing control and descending down to the ship.

"At least tell us your problem and besides you asked about Sky Island and we haven't told you the answer you need." Sanji tries to be convincing to the tiger.

"In the past two years, a Birkan came to the moon. I don't know how he got there and what his motives are, but that man is no good. I was created by the Spaceys, who are also robots to protect them. Since they are dead now, I have to protect their legacies by staying in the ancient city they lived in."

"Birkan? They're the people of Sky Island. You can tell by the wings on their back." Robin interrupted.

"Yes, but the Birkan I mentioned does not have wings… that Birkan powered up and resurrected the Spaceys. At first, I was happy and I even called him God. Then, he decided to oppress the Spaceys in a couple of months later. Every day he would overcharge the Spaceys to work for him. The Spaceys are very durable even though they are ancient machines from the moon, but they certainly have their limits. If he keeps enslaving and overcharging them, the Spaceys will go extinct. I am ashamed that I have failed to protect them."

"Birkan with no wings and overcharging… I feel like I am remembering a shitty face." added Sanji.

"Don't tell me… his name is Enel!" Nami reacted with shock.

"Yes." said the tiger with extreme hatred showing on his face.


	3. Blastoff!

"Enel? The "god" that got his ass kicked by Luffy?" Zoro said with a straight face.

"Hahaha. I kicked his ass pretty good back then, his mantra was a pain though, but I have the same ability now." Luffy grinned with pride.

"Why didn't you completely stop him! I wouldn't have to go through this mess if you finished the job." said the tiger with frustration.

"Oi, I didn't know he would go back up! If you're really that upset about your home world, we'll all go to the moon and kick his ass again! After this, you'll join my crew!" Luffy feels eager to go on the moon.

"I- that's too much. I was created to protect the ancient city built by the Spaceys. Leaving it will create openings for further dangers."

"We'll fix it all at once after I beat Enel!"

The tiger feels hope has emerge, and that he is lucky to meet an odd, yet a very interesting individual. For the first time in over two years, he smiled and thanked Luffy.

"I guess this couldn't be helped." Nami sighed.

"I'll start making space suits for everyone. Hey, alien dude, do you need one?" Franky asked.

"I'll be fine. I can adapt space environment with no trouble. Getting to the moon is doable, but will need a lot of energy. Do you have anything I can use?"

"Sure thing, come follow me to my workshop."

The tiger has gathered all the resources needed to make the device that will shoot the Sunny up high. He showed great finesse on making the device, and it doesn't take him long to finish up the device.

"Alright, I'll just have to stick this thing at the bottom of the ship. Don't worry, I made sure that the ship won't be damaged.

The tiger jumps down to the water and swim under the ship. He sticks the device and swim back up. He jumps up to get on the boat.

"One more thing, I will create an energy barrier to hold up the ship. Without it, the ship will be destroyed once we enter the space." explained the tiger.

The tiger concentrates deeply and his gauntlets created light blue-colored energy and released it. The Sunny is now coated with the barrier.

"Woah Awesome!" yelled Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper with excitement.

"Pretty impressive. Maybe I can have some upgrades on the moon heh?" Franky gives the tiger a light nudge.

"After the Enel problem has been taken care of, if the crew can pull it off. You may take any resource you might find useful, but the resources are almost depleted because of him."

Everyone changes to their space suits. Luffy played around with his suit while Nami yells to stop him. Robin finds Chopper cute in his space suit, but Chopper tries to pretend that he is not happy and insults her. Zoro tries to get used to the suit, but he finds no trouble moving. Sanji grins and believe the suit will let him kick harder. Franky's suit is designed with a big blue star on the torso.

"Ah, it's strange to wear something bigger than me, but what's not bigger me? Yohohoho." Brook jokes around on his suit.

"So, what's your name?" Luffy greeted the tiger with a smile.

"I am Model 0001456TXL. You may call me Taxle."

"Hahaha what a funny name, but OK. Let's go to the moon!"

Taxle nods and pulls out a remote to start the launch sequence. Everyone can feel the ship shaking; the ocean starts to make a swirl, while the device has its jet on. Then, the Sunny blasts off in tremendous speed.


	4. Moon's Secret

The Sunny-Go successfully goes into space. All of the Straw Hats are catching their breaths after the launch.

"Ugh, I don't want to go through that again." Usopp pants while lying on the ground.

"Oh man, I was so scared! I am never fond of heights, but at least I was not going down." said Taxle with his shaking legs.

"You should've at least warned us!"

After the fear wears off, Chopper finds the space a beautiful and wondrous sight. Luffy is seeing constellations of meat and drools. He then hurries to Sanji to prepare him a lot of food for the whole crew, thinking it would be nice to have a meal during the space cruise.

In no time, Sanji prepares the grand meal for the entire crew. As usual, Nami and Robin's plates are bigger than the rest. Luffy hogs down all the food and steal some of them, leaving angry crew members.

"So by the way, do you poop?" Luffy asked Taxle with food stuffed inside his big mouth. Out of nowhere, a foot swings to Luffy's face and kicks him to the ground really hard.

"You don't ask that kind of question especially when we're eating, you DAMN IDIOT!" Sanji yells at Luffy and feels disgusted.

"S—S—I'm sorry." Luffy bleeds with huge bumps all around his face.

Taxle couldn't help but laugh, but he doesn't know what poop means. He tries to ask, but Sanji interrupts by telling him not to ask or know anything about it.

"I just remember, once we get on the moon, we have to be cautious. I'm pretty certain that Enel can detect us when we are on the moon. I can safely assume that the moon has strong electric fields that Enel can use." Nami observes while having flashbacks about her time "serving" under Enel 2 years ago.

"Ah, Nami-san is so cute when she's being all intelligent~! I'm falling in love." said Sanji with hearts on his eyes.

"Shut your blabbering mouth, stupid cook." Zoro annoyed by Sanji.

"I should've poisoned the shit out of your food, one-eyed marimo!"

"I dare you to do that. I'd cut your suit so you can just suffocate right here!"

Before things gets out of hand, Nami intercepts and beats both of them. They are bleeding and have huge bumps on their faces.

* * *

><p>Taxle laughs at their misfortune. "Is the crew always so lively?" he asks to Robin.<p>

"Ah yes, especially when they are in an amazing place like this. May I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Why are you protecting the ancient city? I also notice that you show a lot of emotions for a robot. Franky's able to show emotions because he was a human turned into cyborg."

"The Spaceys are advanced androids, capable of free will and thoughts. They created me with the same traits so I can coexist with them."

"Then, what about the ancient city?"

"I thought that I should protect it since the Spaceys created me as a form of gratitude. I swore myself to protect the deactivated Spaceys. Strangely, the ancient city is name Birka. Enel must have thought that it is his real home when it's actually not. However, I found a problem that I haven't told you when he occupied the city. The city contains a devastating super weapon that can cause so much destruction. I did not know about it until he found out. I was not sure how he discovered it, but I'm guessing he used his electricity to detect the hidden weapon."

"I never noticed a single thing from the moon. What happened? Did the weapon work?"

"For two years, I researched what the weapon is. It is revealed to be an Ancient Weapon named Gaea, the cannon that can decimate anything with pinpoint accuracy. All I know is that the user can directly say what or who he wants to destroy. I do notice that there is a huge stone box with strange writings on it. I could not understand it, but Enel claimed that it was not his first time seeing it. So he forced the Spaceys to decipher that stone for him and willing to use a lot of the moon's resources to activate it. That's how the slavery started." Taxle frowned and feels regret because of his failure to protect them.

Robin couldn't believe what he said. "The stone box is called a Poneglyph. I am the last person on Earth who can read them and also know how to activate Ancient Weapons. _Could this be my chance of knowing what happened during the Void Century? I wonder what kinds of secrets I will uncover_. But do not worry; I have no intention or the interest to activate the weapon. However, it is surprising that something like that exist even on the moon.

"I hope you are right, but I am impressed that you are able to read it. Even with the moon technology, the Spaceys still couldn't decipher the writings."

"There are some things technology can't solve."

"I guess I have to agree with you on that."

"Woohoo! Look, we're almost to the moon! It looks much bigger than I thought!" Luffy yells with excitement.

Then, Luffy sees a lightning in front of him, but he dodged it thanks to his Kenbunshoku Haki and the barrier still holds up.

"Oh no, we're detected!" said Nami.

"Do not let the lightning hit the barrier too much. If the barrier is gone, the ship will be destroyed and we will be helpless in the vacuum environment." Taxle warned.

"Again, you didn't warn us about this!" yelled Usopp.

"Sorry, I forgot."

"How can a robot forget about critical things like this!"

As Usopp argues with Taxle, another lightning strike is coming to their way, but this one is much bigger.


	5. At the Moon

"Agh! It's coming to us!" Usopp freaks out.

"Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!" Luffy expanded to a giant balloon and stopped the electrical flow from harming the ship and his crew.

"Ha! It seems that my SUPER space suit's insulator is working well. I also made it specifically for a rubber man." Franky grins and looks proud of his invention.

"Nice, Franky!" Luffy is awed by his new space suit.

"We need to land soon. Taxle, can you make this thing go faster?" asked Nami.

"I can't, this is the fastest I can go."

"No choice. Franky, use Coup de Burst!"

"Alright, leave it to me! Coup de Burst!"

As the Sunny launch with the Coup de Burst, it got out of control in space. Enel sends out another lightning strike, but failed to reach the ship and missed. The Straw Hats goes on a very bumpy ride. Eventually, Sunny almost lands on the moon, but will have a head on crash.

"Watch out! We're going to crash!" Chopper is scared and closed his eyes.

"Mil fleur! Gigantesco Mano!" Robin sprouted a pair of giant hands on the moon's surface and repositioned Sunny, so they will have a smoother landing.

The Sunny landed on the moon, in the middle of a very empty space.

"Thank goodness Robin-san, you saved us." Brook remarked.

"Good thing it was only a couple of seconds or I could have lose consciousness." said Robin while catching her breath, knowing the space's hazardous environment.

"Robin, I'll make sure to examine your hands before we go." said Chopper.

"Please do, Chopper."

Chopper proceeds to check on Robin's arms and gives her some bandages.

"Robin, it's too dangerous for you to use your powers here. You should stay and guard the ship. I'll stay here with you." Chopper gives her an advice.

"No—_No, I can't stay here. There's an unknown history that I have to uncover._ I'll be fine Chopper and I promise to be careful."

"But Robin, wait-"

"Chopper, leave her be. If Robin-chan wants to go somewhere, it must be important to her. Don't worry, I'll protect her on the way even if it cost me my life." said Sanji to Chopper.

"Thank you Sanji." Robin feels confident now that she has nakamas strong enough to go with her.

"No need to thank me, Robin-chan. Your knight is always ready to serve you."

"Wait, Sanji! I'll come with both of you. I haven't verified the success of our rehab. I need to make sure you won't lose too much blood from nosebleed. Let me bring my medical supplies first." Chopper warned Sanji and worries about him.

"OK, so I guess everyone is all set. Taxle, can you show us the way to Enel?" said Nami

"Yes, I know where he is, and the Spaceys will be with him."

"Good. Franky and Brook, can you guys guard the Sunny?"

"Leave it to us!" said both Franky and Brook.

"OK everyone, we need to move fast before Enel sends another lightning to us. Even with insulation in our suits, they can't match Enel's power."

"Yes Nami-san!" said Sanji.

"Ugh, I have the 'I-can't-face-Enel-again disease." Said Usopp while his mouth and legs shake, trembling in fear.

"Get a grip, Usopp. I wonder how stronger he gets in the past two years, or he is too lazy to become stronger and depends on his slaves to do his work for him. This will be a good training for me." Zoro added.

"Yosh, let's go! I want to kick Enel's ass again!" said Luffy.

Luffy gets out of the ship and tries to run, but he cannot due to little amount of gravity. He started to float and freaks out, but then stretched his arm to Sunny and pushes himself back into the ship.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that I need to coat you guys with gravity barrier to match with Earth's gravity. All of the moon's inhabitants have it." Taxle mentioned.

"Of course you have to forget." Usopp rolls his eyes at him.

A purple energy is showing on both of Taxle's gauntlets and then he slams the ground causing a blast and now every Straw Hats are coated in the invisible barrier.

"Don't get damaged too much. These barriers are weak against piercing attacks. Be careful." Taxle warns all of them.

"One more thing, I made sure that we have the best space suits. I designed them to be very durable, but don't let anything poke a single hole or you're done for. Good thing I picked up a lot of stuff from Vegapunk in the last two years." Said Franky before the crew goes.

Then, Franky shows the repair kit for space suit maintenance which looks like gel. "Here, these gels will fix any punctures on your space suits. Just apply it to the holes and the suit will regenerate."

"Much appreciated, Franky. These will come in handy. Good job." praised Nami.

"Then, let's go!" Luffy is eager to meet Enel again.

The crew starts to get off the Sunny Go while Franky and Brook guards the ship.

Meanwhile in Birka, the ancient city of the moon…

Enel is lying on his throne. "I sense ten presences outside. The Blue Sea Monkeys including the rubber man and the woman who can read the stone, two strange ones, and a nuisance. Guess they made it here with little problem." He shows a bit of surprise that the Straw Hats are here, but shows no fear despite of having defeated in the past two years.

Enel's looks has been overhauled with moon technology. His left eye is metallic with red lens; his left arm is replaced with a blaster. He is armored with strong conductive materials and his bo staff becomes a hardened trident. He activates his advanced Goro Goro no Mi and creates a stream of red lightning around him and surround himself with robotic Birkans the Spaceys were forced to build to prepare for another fight he will not forget.

"Let us have another Survival Game." Enel laughs manically to exact revenge.


	6. Survival Game Starts

The Straw Hats are leaving the ship. When they're nowhere to e seen from the Sunny, Franky starts to check damages the Sunny took.

"Hey Brook, I'm checking the ship for any damages. Keep an eye on things, will ya?"

"Yes, Franky-san. I'll keep an eye on things, but I don't have any eyes. Yohohohohoho."

Franky sighs at his goofy attitude and goes inside the ship to check on the channels. He looks around and investigates, but there seems to be nothing to worry about. His new vehicles stored in the channels are unscratched.

"Hmm, there's nothing to worry about. Good. " Franky goes outside. "Oi Brook, there's no dama-" Franky then see Brook lying on the ground looking lifeless.

"Hey Brook! Are you OK? Brook! Wake up!" Franky then hears his name, but Brook's mouth isn't moving. He grows confused and looks back. He gives a shocking expression on what he saw.

"AH! A ghost!"

"Yohohoho." said the soul of Brook while it tries to enter his body.

"So, Franky-san, do you like my new ability?"

Franky does not hesitate to slam his huge robotic fist on Brook's head. "Don't ever do that again, you idiot! You had me worried there for a second."

Brook's head has a huge headbump. "S—s—sorry, I was bored waiting."

"It was only for ten minutes! Strange how you can survive waiting for fifty years, but can't wait for a short amount of time. Tsk. You're having too much fun."

"Franky-san, you're too harsh!"

Franky is irritated, but then he hears a rumbling noise. "Oi, do you hear what I'm hearing?"

"Y-Yes." Brook gets up.

Both Brook and Franky looks outside of the ship and see a small army of robotic Birkans at a distance. Franky grabs a pair of binoculars to see clarify what they're seeing.

"Grey humans? No- wait, they have wings!" said Franky while he takes off his binoculars.

"You mean the Birkans? How many are there?"

"Yeah there are about sixty of them. I expect them to be the Enel's goons since he knew that we're here already, be prepared. Finally, we get to see some action." Franky goes to the steering wheel and readies his channels and rocket launchers inside his shoulders.

"And I won't get bored. Yohohohoho." Brook prepares by unsheathing his sword from the cane and an icy aura came from the sword.

As the small army of synthetic Birkans gets closer to the pirates, Brook jumps off the ship and runs very fast towards them with his unsheathed sword. Then, he bypasses all of the minions and walks casually.

"Hanauta Sanchou: Yahazu Giri!" No blood comes out of the synthetics, but the chilling aura from his sword freeze them. "I can't cut them it seems. They have such strong armors with them, but freezing them should weaken their protection."

"Yosh, then I'll destroy them now. Franky Rocket Launcher!" Franky shoots multiple rockets coming from both of his shoulders.

The synthetic armies have been decimated and blew up in huge pieces. Franky gets off the Sunny and tries to investigate the armor pieces.

"Well, if you can't cut them, then their armors must be really strong. Stronger than the Wapometal I used to build my new Battle Frankies. Heh, even my SUPER rocket launchers didn't completely destroy them." Franky then gathers all of the broken pieces and proceeds to the ship. "I can probably make some Battle Franky upgrades with these things." Franky smiles.

"But then, the fight was too easy. I have a bad feeling that he will send more of his goons and we won't know how many there are if he can send sixty Birkans at once." Brook added.

"You're right. We should be cautious from now on."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the rest of the Straw Hats and Taxle are still on their way to the ancient city.<p>

"Man, this long run makes me hungry. Should have brought the lunchbox." said Luffy.

"You just ate a ton. Geez, how big can your stomach be?" Zoro replied.

"Besides, you can't even eat in here idiot. One small opening on your suit, and you're done for." Sanji replied also.

While they are still running, Nami sees a small body on the ground in front. "Huh, what's that thing over there?"

Taxle looks ahead and shocked. "First Lieutenant? First Lieutenant Spacey!"

First Lt. then struggles to get up. "T—Taxle…"

"Are you alright? What happened to you?"

"I got shocked as usual." First Lt. almost forgot then quickly tells Taxle. "This is bad; Enel is sending his mecha armies to you." said First Lt. with a tear coming from his eye.

"Don't worry. I sent help from Earth. They will help us take back the moon together!"

"Ooh, another robot. Cool mustache." Luffy laughs.

"I don't feel like the smallest anymore. Do you want to be my-" said Chopper, but he's interrupted by the shaking ground and rumbling noises.

"AHH! What's happening!" Usopp and Chopper hugs each other while cowering in fear.

Then coming from the ground, a giant synthetic snake appears. The giant snake bears similar appearance with the giant snake that swallowed Luffy in Sky Island two years ago.

"AHHH! I'M SO SCARED!" yelled Usopp and Chopper with tears coming off from both of their eyes.

"Gah! It's that dumb snake again." Zoro is thinking of the past on how he almost got eaten by the giant snake because of the South Bird stealing his lunch.

"NOOO! I don't want to be eaten by that thing again! Luffy you better kick its ass right now, or I won't forgive you!" Nami threatens Luffy.

"Hahahaha. We can try to find its ass again if we get swallowed." Luffy goofs at a critical moment as always.

"Take this seriously idiot! I doubt that this snake has an ass hole anyway!" Nami is all fired up and is about to punch Luffy really hard.

"Y—yes!" said Luffy in dismay.

The Monster Trio begins to be in their fighting positions. The snake goes to strike at the three, but all of them dodge the attack.

Luffy jumps and begins his first move. "Gear Third! Busoshoku Koka: Elephant Gun!" A direct hit lands on the snake's head. The force of the impact stuns it, but it recovers fast.

"Ouch, my hand hurts a bit after punching it. What the hell is it made out of?"

"Tsk, maybe cutting it is a better thing to do. Ittoryu: Shi Shishi Sonson!" Zoro cuts the snake and sheathe his sword, but he could only cut two-thirds of the snake. "What!"

"Ha! Dumb marimo with his wussy cuts." Sanji insults Zoro.

"Let me do them to you and see how you like it!"

"Watch and learn, blockhead! Sky Walk; Diable Jambe: Collier Strike!" Sanji lands a perfect kick to the snake's upper body and caused it to collapse.

"Ha! You see that marimo? I took it down. Oi Luffy, can I be the captain now and redraw the pirate flag?"

The snake gets up when the Straw Hats argue and Sanji becomes disappointed.

"It seems that your sissy kick didn't do anything, shitty cook." Zoro smirks at Sanji.

"Agh shut up!" Sanji's face becomes red and becomes more embarrassed when Nami and Robin laugh at him.

"Damn, I'll just send this thing deep underground." Luffy jumps. "Gear Third; Busoshoku Koka: Gigant Stamp Gattling!" Luffy scream while ruthlessly kicking the snake down to the ground. The series of kicks make a huge hole and the snake finally goes down.

"Shishishi, I'm still the captain Sanji. That will never change. Too bad I can't eat the snake. I'm a bit exhausted." Luffy replies to Sanji's question.

"That thing was tough to cut. I must train more!" said Zoro.

Taxle is astonished by their fighting prowess. He is now confident that the Straw Hats are the real deal and can definitely defeat Enel.


	7. Tunnel Rats

The Straw Hats that fought the snake sat for a while next to the giant hole Luffy created, and the snake is knocked out cold.

Luffy is curious about the snake and advanced forward to take a better look while Taxle, First Lt., and Nami follow him. "Man, this huge thing would be useful for transportation if I could tame it."

Taxle observed and scanned the snake for his specs. For a few seconds, he already got the data on the snake. "Looks like Enel's done it."

"Done what?" Nami asked

"He was able to fully utilize the metals here."

"What kind of metal is it?"

"It is just an ordinary iron, but combined with moon technology it strengthens the durability a thousand fold. We call the technology Component ZEX, a reusable resource that can be regenerated over time and can only be found here in the moon. In fact, the anti-gravity coatings on all of you are made of it. My gauntlets are- well you can say that they are a portable ZEX."

"Amazing! But you mentioned that it is weak against piercing attacks, but how come Zoro wasn't able to take it down?"

"Piercing and slashing is different, but considering the amount he cut from his slash attack was pretty impressive."

"Oh? So I've heard. Alright, I now know what to do with Enel's goons." Zoro said with a grin on his face, wanting for some more action.

"No wonder it kinda hurts when I punch that huge snake." Luffy commented after.

"But still, I was also surprised that you can take it down like your strikes are much harder than the metal itself! You humans are beyond on what I would expect."

"Well, we have an idiot for a captain, so you can say that he is not normal." added Sanji.

"Well I've been training really hard for two years and there are a lot of crazy guys down there who are much stronger than me." Luffy grinned and laughed. Then, he starts to look down the giant hole. "Oh? Hey, I think I found a secret path in here!"

Everyone now looks down the hole and First Lt. Spacey's left eye glow white while he is trying to scan the secret pathway Luffy uncovered. "Ah! This is a pathway leading to the ancient city Birka." said First Lt.

"Woohoo, a shortcut! Let's go!" Luffy jumps down the hole.

"Luffy, wait! Ah idiot captain!" said Nami.

* * *

><p>Then everyone jumps down to the hole with him. The crew starts to go inside the huge dark secret passage, but then Robin stops for a moment. "What's wrong, Robin?" asked Nami.<p>

"I just noticed that this tunnel is big enough for the snake to go in. If we go in without knowing that it could strike us from behind, we would be crushed inside and nobody will hear from us ever again."

"Good point, Robin. It could wake up again and we don't know if this thing is finished or not, but if it comes back I will be the one to handle it." said Zoro.

"Huh? What was that? Don't get so cocky, marimo." said Sanji.

"Are you stupid? Didn't you listen to what that tiger said? The barrier is weak against piercing attack and your sissy kicks are blunter than the dullest knife."

Sanji grows frustrated, but thinking that he is right. "Well at least you use your brain for once this time." Sanji reluctantly answered.

"Tsk, you should stop wasting time, stupid cook."

After Sanji and Zoro's little silly argument, Chopper and Usopp's jaws dropped and starts to shake and sweat. "Robin, please don't say such things!" said Usopp in dismay, but Robin just giggled.

"Don't worry, I'll make ZEX barrier. First Lt. help me out will you? said Taxle and First Lt. did his salute pose and obeyed the order. Both of them released ZEX energy and a thick purple barrier now protects the once opened tunnel. "I'll also attach a shock responder, so if the snake tries to go in, it will make a beep sound and should warn us that it will come towards this direction."

"Yahoo! Now we're saved!" cheered Usopp and Chopper.

Taxle and First Lt. then released a small ZEX ball and tossed them up and float to create a makeshift source of light for guiding them through the dark tunnel. "Woah, awesome! The balls float." said Luffy while he tries to touch them, but his hand just goes through it. "What? I can't touch it?" Luffy gives a confused face.

"Well, just like the property matter: solid, liquid, and gas, you can certainly touch both solid and liquid, but not gas. The ZEX is like gas, cannot be touched, but not actually gas." Taxle tries to explain, but Luffy's simple-mindedness has him lost on the scientific stuff. "Oh, so it's a mystery gas!"

Taxle dropped a sweat drop behind his head, and reluctantly smiled to try not to judge him. "Yeah, you can put it like that."

"Does everyone in the moon have the ZEX?" asked Robin.

"Yes, when you start living in the moon for some time, you can develop ZEX energy on yourself, but I am not sure if it works on all of you. It worked on Enel, but it could be that his electricity powers enabled him to fully bring it to its full potential and he stole a lot of it from the Spaceys, leaving them completely vulnerable from all sorts of attacks." Taxle is angry whenever Enel's name is mentioned.

"So electricity makes the ZEX stronger? He is not the same threat as he was two years ago. We all should be a lot more careful when we approach him." Robin warned the group.

However, Luffy blatantly responded "I don't care what he uses, I will kick his ass again and I won't leave this place until it's done. Everyone got a problem with that?" he asked all of his crew members, and all of them responded with what Luffy wants to hear from them, and Robin giggled and knew that he would not listen to her warning as expected.

"This should be good for my training. I can't wait for the real fun to begin." Zoro smiled with confidence.

* * *

><p>As the crew walks deeper into the tunnel, the Straw Hats starts to hear a beeping sound. "It's coming." Taxle warns all of them.<p>

Luffy and Sanji were about to step back behind and face towards the snake's incoming direction, but Zoro interrupted. "Just go on ahead, I will handle this." He then took out two of his katana, he is thinking that not having his third sword on his teeth is irritating, but he had to make due and believe that two swords are enough to take the snake down for good.

The beeping sound still continues, and the Starw Hats have trouble hearing the snake. "Turn it off, you idiot!" Sanji yelled to Taxle.

"Ah! I forgot again!" Taxle quickly apologized to Sanji.

"Geez, I have to keep asking how a robot can be this stupid, despite of having technologies that far surpass our own." Sanji scratching his head.

By the seconds, some of the Straw Hats cannot hear something coming their way.

"I can't hear anything, maybe it's something else?" asked Usopp.

Then Zoro closed both of his eyes and concentrate. Only he can hear the snake coming. "No, it's that damn snake, and it is really close to us." Once he opened his eyes, he readies both of his katanas and starts to charge into the darkness while the snake suddenly appears.

"Waaaah! So fast, I didn't even see that snake coming!" said Usopp in a full surprise.

Zoro went inside the snake's mouth and Sanji was about to go with him, but then Luffy stops him. "Zoro will be fine, he won't die that easily." Luffy smiled at Sanji.

"Well, it's not like I will be sad if he is gone." said Sanji jokingly.

Zoro could not see a single thing inside the snake's stomach, but he indiscriminately attack like a raging demon. After that, the only thing the Straw Hats hear is an explosion. Chopper worries that Zoro is badly injured. He was caught in the explosion and damaged his space suit a bit, but no holes were found on it, so he is safe from space hazards. Then, he rushed towards the group and returned.

"Zoro! You're OK! I'm so glad." Chopper cries in joy.

"Of course I'm fine, the two years training would be a waste if I die inside that thing. There is one problem, however."

"What is it?" asked Sanji.

"I didn't get to name my new attack."


End file.
